Florida State University moved up two spots to place fourth among the state’s 11 public institutions in performance-based funding, according to a report Thursday from the Board of Governors.

Last year, FSU ranked sixth on the chart.

Florida A&M University, on the other hand, lost gains it made last year by placing 10th this year, dropping from its eighth-place position.

The University of Florida was No. 1 in the SUS rankings.

This means that FSU could receive an additional $38.5 million of the state’s allocation, along with the $43.2 million it contributed to the state’s total pot of $520 million.

FAMU will not receive any new money from the pot allocated to universities since it placed in the bottom three rankings, along with Florida Gulf Coast University and the University of North Florida.

Last year, FAMU received $11.5 million from the performance fund. The university had not included new money from performance funding in next year’s budget.

But since FAMU’s score of 65 – the same it recorded last year, was better than the cut-off of 51 points or higher, it will retain the nearly $14 million it contributed as its portion of money going to the total investment on behalf of universities. That total reached $275 million.

The Board of Governors Thursday approved the allocations in its meeting at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

The board said all universities netted year-over-year gains on six of the eight performance metrics that are common to all universities, including the number of students earning degrees in areas of strategic emphasis (such as STEM). The System’s graduation and retention rates have increased by roughly five points each during the same period.

“In the past four years, we’ve seen steady improvements at the System level and for individual universities,” BOG chairman Tom Kuntz said.

FSU President John Thrasher said he was pleased with the university’s ranking.

“Florida State University has always been focused on student success, and we’re pleased to see that improvements in several key areas, including our already excellent graduation rate, median wages of graduates and STEM degrees awarded, are reflected in the Board of Governors’ performance metrics,” Thrasher said. “FSU is one of the best public universities in the nation, and the performance funding allocated by the BOG will help us continue to put our students at the center of our mission as we strive even higher.”

Lee Hall on FAMU's campus.(Photo11: FAMU)

FAMU maintained the 65 points it received last year but was bumped down in the rankings because of the performance of other universities that showed strong year-to-year improvement.

For instance, the University of West Florida went from one of the bottom three universities last year to one of the top universities for the 2016-2017 ranking. New College of Florida also qualifies for the funding.

FAMU showed improvement in the following metrics:

An increase in the percent of bachelor’s degree graduates enrolled in graduate school or employed at $25,000 or more annually (from 61.8 percent to 64.6 percent)

· An increase in the median wages of bachelor’s degree graduates employed full-time one year after graduation (from $32,000 to $32,700)

· A decrease in the average cost to the student earning a bachelor’s degree (from $13,830 to $12,640 annually)

· An increase in the six-year graduation rate for first-time-in-college students (from 38.6 percent to 40.7 percent)

· An increase in the percentage of graduate degrees awarded in programs of strategic emphasis (from 51.5 percent to 58.2 percent)

“Although we have made some improvements, I am not satisfied with the university’s performance,” interim FAMU President Larry Robinson said. “We have developed an aggressive and focused plan for improving on all aspects of the state’s performance metrics. FAMU is committed to elevating our standing in future rankings.”

Here are the rankings, based on points earned in meeting performance metrics and how much they can qualify from the pool: